“Impossible.”
“Not impossible.” Zoe lifted her hand, as if to touch him only to return it to her lap. “It very nearly killed you.”
“How can I be poisoned?”
“It was a unique combination of a human blood-thinning drug laced with particles of silver.” Zoe pointed toward the IV stand with several empty blood bags that was tucked in the corner. “We had to drain your blood and replace it with clean. You’re fortunate to be alive.”
Jesus. Someone truly wanted him dead.
Nothing surprising in that, of course.
But the rising anxiety that was making his body tremble was new and original. And wholly unwelcome.
He frowned. “How did I get here?”
“We think through an imp portal.”
“An imp?”
“That’s something we can discuss later,” Zoe attempted to soothe. “For now you need to rest.”
“No. I need . . .” What did he need? It was there, deep inside him. He could physically feel the raw, aching need. The savage desire to leap from the bed and find what was causing his ruthless pain. Hell, he could even smell . . . peaches? Oh, shit. His roar shook the room. “Sally.”
Zoe widened her eyes, leaning forward to pin him to the bed with her hands.
“Shh.”
His fury made splinters of wood rain from the ceiling. “Where’s my mate?”
“She’s fine,” Zoe muttered, struggling to keep him flat on his back. “Don’t move.”
“She’s not fine,” he snarled, infuriated by his weakened state. His mate needed him, and he was failing her. Again. “I can feel her pain.” He grasped Zoe’s wrists, trying to pull them off his chest. “Dammit.”
“Dyson,” the female vampire called, her muscles trembling as she went to her knees to gain leverage.
Any other day, Roke would have already tossed her in the corner and been on his way to Sally. He wasn’t clan chief because of his charming personality. But he was even more weakened than he’d first suspected and it was taking everything he possessed to continue the fight.
“Where’s Kale?” he demanded, referring to the vampire he’d left in charge of the clan.
The younger vampire didn’t have Roke’s sheer power, but he was a steady, cool-headed leader who could be trusted not to allow his emotions to overrule his logic.
Unlike Zoe who was temperamental, and dangerously obsessed with claiming a place at Roke’s side.
“He’s in Las Vegas negotiating a new treaty with the local curs.”
“Call him,” he commanded, his gaze shifting to the large vampire who hurriedly entered the room and crossed toward the bed. “Dyson release me.” Roke snarled in shock when the male instead wrapped a heavy chain over his legs and attached the other end to a bracket beneath the bed. The chain wasn’t enough to hold him, but it had been enchanted to prevent his escape, even if he was at his full strength. “What the hell?”
“You’re weak,” Zoe murmured, climbing off the bed to regard him with a wary expression. “You have to rest.”
Roke glared at the bitch and her partner in crime. “I’m your clan chief.”
“Yes, which is why we intend to protect you,” Zoe insisted.
“I don’t need your protection.” His hands clenched as he futilely struggled against the unseen spell holding him down. “I need my mate.”
Zoe’s pale blue eyes darkened with unmistakable envy. “She’s bewitched you. Once we break the mating you’ll realize we’ve only done what is necessary.”
Damn. Sally had been right to fear his people. He’d suspected that they would be angry with her for forcing a bond with him, but he’d never believed they’d actually harm her.
“I’ll destroy anyone who puts so much as a mark on her,” he warned, the merciless sincerity in his tone making Dyson pale in fear.
Zoe licked her lips, not entirely impervious to his fury. “You’re not thinking clearly, Roke.”
“Tell me what you’ve done to her,” he hissed.
“She’s being held in the mines.”
“Oh, shit.” His eyes squeezed shut. They couldn’t have found a better way to torture Sally if they tried. After being locked in Styx’s dungeon, she’d become terrified of being trapped in a cell. She had to be freaked out of her mind. “Get her out.” He sent a blast of power that made both vampires stumble. “That is a command.”
Zoe glanced toward the ceiling that threatened to collapse on them. “You must relax.”
“Release Sally and we’ll discuss this rationally,” he ordered.
“There will be no need for discussion,” Zoe informed him. “The witch has created the fake mating, with the proper persuasion she’ll end it.”
Oh, hell.
Sally.
He had to get to her now.
“No,” he snarled. “It has nothing to do with a spell. It was her demon blood.”
Zoe tilted her chin. “Either way, we’ll force her to free you.”
“She can’t.” His fury shattered the windows. “Goddammit. She can’t.”
Zoe refused to back down. “Dyson can be very persuasive.”
Roke bared his fangs. “No.”
The male vampire rushed forward as the entire building shook in reaction to Roke’s fury. Trapped by the enchanted chain, Roke could do nothing as the massive fist connected with his jaw with enough force to knock him out.
Chapter Fifteen
Sally crouched in the corner of the barren cell, her arms wrapped around her bent knees as she forced herself to breathe.
She didn’t know how long she’d been locked in the darkness that was so thick she couldn’t see beyond the tip of her nose. Or even how much time had passed since the large male vampire had left after using a whip to strip the flesh from her back.
It had to be several hours since her skin had grown back, although it remained tender to the touch, and she was so hungry her belly was beginning to cramp.
Where was Roke?
She knew he wasn’t dead. She could still feel their bond, although it was oddly muffled.
At first the knowledge he’d survived the journey from Canada to his lair had trumped her fear at being tossed into a cell at the bottom of an abandoned gold mine.
Then, as the hours had passed, and she’d been shackled to the wall and beaten like a piñata, her relief had altered to a confused fury.